The present invention relates to a new and distinct Catharanthus plant, botanically known as Catharanthus roseus and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Suncatha 224’.
The new Catharanthus plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Yame, Fukuoka, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new freely branching and vigorous Catharanthus plants with numerous attractive flowers.
The new Catharanthus plant originated from a cross-pollination conducted by the Inventor in Yame, Fukuoka, Japan in September, 2010 of a proprietary selection of Catharanthus roseus identified as code designation FS-S, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Catharanthus roseus identified as code designation NCPS, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Catharanthus plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Yame, Fukuoka, Japan in February, 2011.
Asexual reproduction of the new Catharanthus plant by vegetative tip cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Yame, Fukuoka, Japan since February, 2011, has shown that the unique features of this new Catharanthus plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.